


Tiny Whispers

by ForTheDamaged (CountingWithTurkeys)



Category: Adventure Time
Genre: F/F, Monologue, Not Canon to Symphony Universe, Relationship Study, Tags Are Hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:42:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25097824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CountingWithTurkeys/pseuds/ForTheDamaged
Summary: No one understands Bonnibel's special love language. No one, that is, except Marceline.
Relationships: Princess Bubblegum/Marceline
Comments: 5
Kudos: 130





	Tiny Whispers

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, CountingWithTurkeys here! I post a lot of blurbs and such on my tumblr, (also called CountingWithTurkeys), but I've received a few requests to put them all in one area for ease of reading. Unlike my main account, these stories are not canon to the Symphony Universe; they're requests, drabbles, contest winner fics, writing experiments, or other things I felt like writing but have no place in the main continuity. Follow me over there if you haven't already and give me suggestions for more!

Whenever anyone, be they civilian or royal, friend or stranger, mortal or Cosmic Entity, discovers that Bonnibel Bubblegum is the love of my eternal life, that I willingly chose to forsake any and all others in favor of her, the response is always the same: _Why?_ This is always asked with disbelief, bafflement comically apparent as they look from me to her, as they realize the depths of my devotion. Exactly how far I’m willing to go not just to keep her safe, but to make her happy.

Look, I get it. I really do. If you don’t think about it I can see how it doesn’t really make any sense. She’s _the_ brainiest of the brainlords, a woman who considers morality to be an interesting theory but not a guiding principle in life. Even if the rest of Ooo isn’t exactly privy to how Bonnie is behind the scenes - which is probably a good thing, given how hard I had to convince her that mind controlling her citizens and fellow royalty just isn’t cool - everyone knows she’s done messed up junk. I’ve heard what they call her, what you all call her. Cold. Heartless. Sociopathic. Okay, that last one might be true, but she’s not cold or heartless.

They might not know the half of what she’s done in her almost nine centuries of life, but they do know about Goliad. And her freak-out when the King of Ooo took her throne. They watched her disregard emotions as trivial when she tried to separate Phoebe and Finn, and don’t even get me started on how willing she was to use the kid's crush on her to her favor. She might have made memory-tampering illegal after what Ash did to me, but that didn’t really stop her from messing with Lemongrab’s mindmeats, and I’m quoting her here, ‘for his own good.’

Then they look at me. Yeah, I know, walking super weapon, heir to the Nightosphere, last of the vampires, blah blah blah. They see all that, yeah, but they also know I’ve dedicated concerts to Bonnie, that I’ve stuck by her and been sticking by her longer than anyone else has even been alive like twenty times over. A handful of peeps even know I was right there, helping her build the Candy Kingdom in the good ol’ days. They see how we are together, and when we’re not fighting I’ve heard them snicker at how wrapped around her finger I am. It’s fine. I know it, too.

But here’s the thing: life happens when you aren’t looking. Everyone’s different. Some people, like me, we shout our love from mountaintops as loudly as we can. I’ll write her songs and keep her paranoia in check and make sure everyone knows that if they have a problem with Bonnie, they have a problem with me. Trust me on this, you do _not_ want to have a problem with me, okay? I drink blood and eat souls. Think about it.

Anyway, like I was saying, some people wear their hearts on their sleeves and aren’t shy about showing affection, and I may not show it to a lot of peeps but I’m happy to show it to her. Don’t care who sees. All that matters is that I can make her laugh and help her feel safe, because what none of you tranches know is that she had a messed up childhood and has had to be responsible since like the literal minute she was born. She’s never had the freedom to express emotions, to just chill. It was never okay for her to trust and show what everyone always considers ‘normal’ gestures of affection, like hugging. She still has trouble saying ‘I love you’.

But that’s the point, you know? Some people can show all of that loud and proud. But other people? They show their love very quietly, so you have to stop and listen. Sometimes the language they speak isn’t your native one, so you gotta learn to translate, because here’s the thing about language and take it from a musician: you can’t feel or express stuff you don’t have the words for. Language is weird like that. If something doesn’t exist in how you learned to communicate and express yourself you have to substitute it.

And that’s what Bon does, but none of you get it. You don’t see how she patiently listens to every single stupid annoying story her citizens tell her, nodding patiently and asking follow up questions even though with her brainy-ness it’s gotta be so stupid it physically hurts her. You don’t see how when someone she cares about has a problem she might not want to hear about it, but that’s just ‘cause she’s too busy looking for a solution. You aren’t there when I have a nightmare and you don’t know about how she’ll cancel a meeting so she can hold me through the day until I can get back to sleep, then just pretend her schedule just happened to be clear all coincidentally. You don’t know about the earbud things she made me when she realized I freak out when it’s too silent, so that I never have to be alone with my thoughts.

Bon might not be the sappy romance movie type, or the kind of person who can just accept a bouquet of flowers without scrutinizing what kind they are in weird science language. She might forget important dates because she’s too engrossed in some experiment. But you know what? I trust her more than anyone. She’s always there when I need her. She’s never judged me. She never abandoned me. When I’m scared she doesn’t say nice words, she finds the threat and she takes it out for me. When I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do she won’t mark the trail for me, but she’ll hold my hand so I don’t get lost on the path. She’s never tried to hurt me, and when you all thought I went feral she was the only person to look at me without any fear in her eyes. Just trust.

You’re all too busy looking at Bon and trying to understand her using your language, but take it from someone who speaks both: some people might love loudly and freely, but others, like her, love so quietly that you have to stop and listen. And when you do, there are mountains built of those tiny whispers.


End file.
